Bruises
by Fickle Illusions
Summary: When Abe comes to town, Dimitri should start running. One-shot.


**Disclaimer: Vampire Academy belongs to Richelle Mead.**

If you'd asked me a year ago what I thought of my father, I'd tell you he was deadbeat before punching you for asking. But a lot changes in a year and that's why today, I could honestly say the old man was one of my favourite people to hang out with. Abe was dangerous and hilarious – from his behaviour to his attire – but I was a carbon copy of him. It was hard not to like him.

It was warm day (or human evening) at court and we sat at his favourite over-extravagant café catching up after his recent trip to Turkey. Lissa had given me the day off to specifically spend some time with him.

"I have something for you," he told me, waiving Pavel over.

Pavel handed him a rectangular package which he promptly handed to me. I tried to raise an eyebrow at the reindeer wrapping paper but failed horribly, making Abe laugh.

Shrugging him off, I tore into the paper, confused when I found the back of a photo frame in my hands. Turning it over, I smiled.

The image inside it was of a tall man, maybe in his early twenties and a short teenage redhead. Whilst the man was laughing heartily, the redhead was glaring an infamous glare at the camera.

The infamous Hathaway glare. I should know, I'd inherited it.

The photo was of my parents and I couldn't help but smile at the fact that even in even the earliest photo I'd ever seen them in, they still looked dysfunctional as hell.

"She hated me back then," Abe told me, eyes twinkling.

"I imagine she probably hated everyone," I responded dryly.

"You're not wrong. She's eighteen in that photo – it's the first photo we have together."

"She looked more pissed than usual," I observed. "What's wrong with her?"

"That was the day she was assigned to guard me."

"She used to guard you? Wait, why's she mad then? She's a workaholic."

"Your mother sincerely detested Moroi at that time. She had a deep sense of duty and graduated at the top of her class but she was extremely bitter toward us – that's why nobody wanted her once she graduated. She didn't have a charge for six months after she graduated so she'd started dating a dhampir – George, can you believe his name was George? When I requested her, she had to leave him that on top of my being Moroi had her hating me for quite a while. Made my life hell."

I shook my head at him in admiration. "I can't believe you braved her like that. You, Old Man, are my hero," I told him, reaching out to pat his shoulder. It was well deserved too, I could barely stand my mother now when we were getting along; living with her hatred would require all kinds of therapy later.

His eyes focused on my arm and all humour dropped from his face. Anger coloured his features and he spoke, his voice was tight.

"What's that?" he asked, nodding at my forearm.

I looked down briefly at the three four long bruises that Dimitri had left. They'd almost faded so I'd forgotten about them.

"Bruises," I replied, shrugging. "So when did you and Mom-"

"-Bruises from where?" he tightness left his voice, replaced with an icy coolness that had me a little unnerved."

"Dimitri. I'll tell you that man has an iron grip," I laughed.

Abe's face darkened even more.

"Belikov did this to you?"

"Relax," I told him rolling my eyes. "Happens all time. We're dhampirs, remember?"

At my words, he stiffened and a mask so indifferent that Dimitri would be proud covered his features, hiding his emotions from me.

He stood up abruptly. "I'm sorry, I some business that requires my attention. I'll see you for dinner?"

"I, uh, yeah," I stumbled, confusion running through me.

"Very well."

He turned to Pavel. "Drop the rest of the boxes of at her place," he instructed.

"What boxes?" I asked.

"I brought you some gifts from Turkey. I'll see you later, Rose." Without another word, he stalked out with three of his guardian scurrying after him.

* * *

An hour after he left, I was shopping with Mia when Christian came bursting into the boutique, barely able to breath with sweat coating his face and drenching his blue t-shirt.

"You," he gasped at me. "You need come with me now."

"Is Lissa okay?" I demanded, hating the fact that our bond was gone during times like this.

"She's fine. Come."

I handed Mia my bags and ran after him for a minute before stopping him.

"Christian, stop. You're too slow. Where am I trying to get?"

"Alexandra Square," he gasped.

I took off, running full speed until I found a large crowd gathered at Alexandra Square. I began shoving through the throngs of onlookers.

"-dare raise your hand on my daughter?! You are your father's boy!" Abe's angry roars had me pushing and shoving with renewed vigour until I fell into the small circle everyone had gathered around.

"What the fuck!" I screeched, launching myself to where Dimitri barely stood, held up by two of Abe's guards. His face was bloody and his hair matted. In Abe's hands was a cane and could only pray and hope that Dimitri still had his kneecaps. Pushing aside a guardian, I made my way to stand in front of Dimitri in an effort to shield him from the cane if it wasn't too late.

"What in the hell are you doing, Old Man?!" I demanded, fury rushing through my blood.

Abe's face matched my emotions. Pure fury radiated off him and for the first time in my life, I could understand why the people that had dubbed him 'Zmey' were afraid of him. Unfortunately, I was 'Zmeyette' and I was livid.

"Stay out of this, Rose."

"Like hell! What the hell are you doing to my boyfriend?!"

"He hurt you, Rose!" he roared, his brown eyes shifting to blackness. "How dare he raise his hand on my daughter?!"

He stepped forward and I moved closer to Dimitri holding my palms up.

"He hasn't hurt me!"

"He gave you bruises!" he bellowed. "And why, because you're a dhampir? That doesn't give him the right to belt you!"

I stared at him in confusion before it all clicked.

"Abe, those bruises are from training! We were sparring and he had me pinned to the mat. I didn't want to lose so I kept squirming and he was trying to hold me down. Listen to me, dad," I told him, urgency obvious in my voice. "Dimitri had never hurt – that isn't who he is. Let him go."

He stared at me for a moment, as though trying to decide if I were being honest or not.

"You would tell me if he hurt you? You wouldn't protect him then?" he asked.

"Dad, the day Dimitri hurts me is the day that _I'll_ be breaking his kneecaps," I told him.

He grinned widely in apparent approval, his mobster air dissipating around him. "Let him go," he ordered his guards.

* * *

"Let's make a rule," I told Dimitri that night as we relaxed in the bathtub.

"What's that?" he asked, his thumb drawing circles on my hips.

"You take a holiday whenever the old man comes to town."

Dimitri chuckled and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"I'm not kidding! Dimitri, one of these days that lunatic will kill you, I swear."

"I like Abe."

My eyes widened. "Then you may need some serious help. This is the third time he's tried to kill you," I pointed out, referring to the time he tried to shoot Dimitri on a 'hunting' trip and the incident where he managed to shoot Dimitri with a real gun under the guise of 'laser tag'.

"No, really. I'm glad he cares so much for you, Roza. I want that for you."

"Pfft," I snorted. "You're getting too cheesy. Either you start leaving town when he comes or I'll end up with a dead boyfriend."

"Perhaps he wouldn't be quite so quick to put me in my grave if I weren't you boyfriend," Dimitri suggested.

"You wanna break up? He'll definitely kill you," I rolled my eyes.

"What if I were your husband?"

My eyes widened and my body froze.

 _Not again._


End file.
